Learning to drive on the right side of the road

[Libersolis 0]

My wife is South African and thus drives on the left hand side.. For those who have made the switch over to the right can you describe how you learned and how difficult it was>

[Melo 1]

I can't drive... but according to my Gypsy I will be taking driving lessons once I get there... and have no clue how to deal with the shift from the left hand side to the right hand side even in my head... I had learnt how to drive many years ago but a near accident put me off it for a life-time... now I will have no option it seems coz Houston does not have a decent public transport system... and the idea of driving scares me sh!tless

[desert_fox 32]

you get used to it as long as you remember to go to the correct side of the car when you get in.

I remember in places like London....stepping off a curb and looking at the wrong direction for traffic and almost get killed.

Always bumping into someone as we walk to the right.

Try someplace like Jamaica where they drive American cars but drive to the left...I cant even figure out how to get into the car.

[brtlmj 0]

My wife is South African and thus drives on the left hand side.. For those who have made the switch over to the right can you describe how you learned and how difficult it was>

I learnt to drive on the right side of the road. Then I moved to Ireland and had to learn to drive on the wron... I mean, left side of the road . I found it to be fairly easy. At the very beginning one tends to open the window instead of shifing gears, that's all

I also have no problem with driving on the right side of the road - my own position in the car serves as a constant reminder. If I sit in the left seat I drive on the right side of the road and vice versa.

Bartek

[Angelica 0]

I didn't find learning to drive on the wrong side of the road difficult Got a bit weirded out with being able to turn right on a red light, got over that one pretty quick. People drive real slow here, Ive given myself a full manicure whilst waiting for oncoming traffic to pass whilst I'm waiting to pull out !! Also the concept of a traffic jam is a bit different from London, well in north Idaho at least. The 1st time I came over hubbub was driving me somewhere , he says " dammit ...theres a traffic jam ". I'm looking right ..left ahead ..behind thinking ..where is it...where the hell are we going..and there it was..a four car gridlock !! I thought bloody hell...you are just going to lurve the m25

Kim

[Boiler 43,859]

Has not driven in Europe?

The gear stick is the hardest bit, everything else comes very quickly.

Riding a bike is another thing, nothing to remind you.

Would be much easier if the US switched to the correct side.

[aussiewench 9]

Would be much easier if the US switched to the correct side.

Im having enough trouble walking through the right side of automatic doors to supermarkets as I always go left.

[Melo 1]

I didn't find learning to drive on the wrong side of the road difficult Got a bit weirded out with being able to turn right on a red light, got over that one pretty quick. People drive real slow here, Ive given myself a full manicure whilst waiting for oncoming traffic to pass whilst I'm waiting to pull out !! Also the concept of a traffic jam is a bit different from London, well in north Idaho at least. The 1st time I came over hubbub was driving me somewhere , he says " dammit ...theres a traffic jam ". I'm looking right ..left ahead ..behind thinking ..where is it...where the hell are we going..and there it was..a four car gridlock !! I thought bloody hell...you are just going to lurve the m25

Kim

I had gone to a place in Western Australia called Geraldton... a traffic jam was about a four car gridlock too!!! But what really freaked me was "this beach is packed full of people" - and I could see maybe 5 at most on the beach...

[46]

I learnt on the left and switched to the right in Canada. I was 16 at the time and found the adjustment to be quite simple. Periodically, I switch again and have no problems with two exceptions:

1. I can't drive down a dirt road on the right. I associate them too much with where I learnt originally and find myself veering left. Living the the centre of a large city, this rarely comes up.

2. The turn signal and wipers swap sides. I end-up spraying the windshield and turning-on the wipers for the first few days after a switch.

[Mand 1]

I drove around our apartment complex a few times first to get used to the gears, indicators etc.

If you've a stick shift, she'll probably hit the door a few times looking to change gears, but after a few times it's easy.

Roads are much bigger which is good and bad...more room, but lots of times you've got tractor trailers on either side of you!

Roundabouts are easier driving on the right-hand side I thought.

THINK before turning out of a gas station!! I almost...but didn't thanks to my hubby!...turned into oncoming traffic!!

All in all, it's a pretty easy transition and being able to drive in the U.S. makes a world of a difference to how fast/slow you settle in. Even if I never went anywhere during the day, knowing I had the car outside gave me a huge feeling of independence

[nayalamb 0]

you get used to it as long as you remember to go to the correct side of the car when you get in.

I remember in places like London....stepping off a curb and looking at the wrong direction for traffic and almost get killed.

Always bumping into someone as we walk to the right.

Try someplace like Jamaica where they drive American cars but drive to the left...I cant even figure out how to get into the car.

at home we typically drive on the left in left-hand drive cars, but in the last few years, there has been an influx of imported cars from japan & korea where the wheel is on the right... so its becoming an interesting mix...

everytime i get into my mom's toyota, i'm on the wrong side either for driving or for riding

[brtlmj 0]

2. The turn signal and wipers swap sides. I end-up spraying the windshield and turning-on the wipers for the first few days after a switch.

That's what I find slightly annoying about driving in Ireland. There is no rule ! It is different in every car

I second the comment about dirt roads, especially when riding a bicycle/motorbike. The law of primacy takes over and I tend to turn right when anybody approaches head-on...

And while I do not consider driving on the right side of the road to be "natural" anymore, I think that the world as a whole would be better off if we all switched to it. For those of you who are afraid of the change, let's make it gradual. For the first week only trucks will drive on the right side

Bartek

[Nicola&Matthew 0]

I had my first experience of driving over here yesterday. Driving on the right side of the road is like me writing with my left hand, it feels a bit weird the writings a bit ropey but with practice you can manage it!!!

Personally I found it weird checking my mirrors as I'm used to looking up to the left, but we've got plenty more practice to come! Gotta get my licence before the Wisconsin winter kicks in

[Leasel7 0]

First of all, a little anecdote....my mother is Australian and married a US citizen while living in Bermuda, where they also drive on the left side of the road. When dad moved her to his hometown in Arkansas, mom was forced to start driving because they lived out in the country. So she started practicing on the dirt roads near their home. One day while practicing she came across her husband's elderly uncles approaching from the opposite direction in their vintage truck. Seeing that they were on the "wrong" side of the road, Mom stayed in her lane, trusting that they would move over. But the two old codgers were in fact driving on the right side of the road and knew she was in the wrong, so they proceeded, waiting for her to move over. This game of chicken finally ended when, as my great uncle put it, "Foot, I took to the ditch!" Mom was mortified and begged him not to tell anyone, but the story soon became family folklore, and my great uncle used to tell the story every time we went back to Arkansas for a visit!

My experiences with driving on the left side of the road in Australia:

1) Tendency to drive too close to the curb on the left.

2) Turning on the windshield wipers instead of the turn signal because they are on opposite sides of the steering column from what I am used to.

3) I turned right at an intersection and ended up on the right side of the road...once. It was scary, but luckily easily corrected because I was on a quiet residential street with no median.

4) Those %^&$ roundabouts -- I'm not used to them and had to hesitate before jumping in, which made the drivers behind me really impatient. (This was in the Melbourne area; seemed like drivers in the countryside and also in Canberra were a lot more tolerant of confused tourists!)

I also drove on the left in the Solomon Islands while visiting my then fiance. Traffic there is laid back compared to Australia; but there were no traffic signals or signs whatsoever, just more &^%* roundabouts and lots of potholes when you get off the main road. But the fun part was I had a car with a manual transmission, which I am used too, but it felt really weird to be shifting on the left.

Advice for your wife -- practice in quiet residential areas or on country roads outside the city, because dealing with heavy traffic and driving on the other side of the road can be a daunting combination. Also when I was learning to drive, my dad used to take me to the mall parking lot on Sundays when they were closed. An empty (or near empty) parking lot might also be a good place for her to get comfortable with the controls on the car and practice making turns.

[allynella 0]

Try someplace like Jamaica where they drive American cars but drive to the left...I cant even figure out how to get into the car.

It was always peculiar for me too. But then I moved from stick-shift to automatic, and it was easier after that. Aside from flashing oncoming traffic when my intention was to wash my windshield and vice versa, I usually tell myself that "the oncoming traffic is on the driver's side". I did end up on the wrong side of a highway once but was lucky. I'm going on a visit to Jamaica in a bit, so some more re-adjusting is on the way .